


leave your love to yesterday

by bokutoes



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), M/M, POV Second Person, Slow Burn, mentions of the other boys - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 13:23:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9387077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bokutoes/pseuds/bokutoes
Summary: In which Kuro Kiryu is nearly  thirty-three and he finds himself reminiscing more about the past—and of Shu.





	

I.  
Your apartment was located in a small, residential community in the outskirts of Tokyo. It compromised of narrow roads and houses, and once in a while an apartment complex. You lived close to the bus stop out of convenience—you sometimes had a job to do in Tokyo and often, you commuted to your training center where you would have undergone some training before your next match. It was a nice neighborhood, at least. You liked the people, and the people liked you. The little kids that ran around looked up to your strength and you doted upon them once in a while. You always gave them candy when you had some on you and you always crouched down whenever they wanted to tell you something—they like it when you pat their heads.

There was an akita that liked to bark at you too. It always ran around in circles within its residence whenever you passed by and it would run over to where you stood to greet him—you learned his name was Daichi from his owner. He liked you, you figured whenever you pat his head and offer him your hand to sniff. He liked bringing you his ball and often, you threw it for him to catch within his fenced area. A few more blocks away from Daichi’s house would have been your apartment, standing in its four story glory, and to you it had been your home for the past five years.

II.  
You visited your father often; twice in one month together with your sister. You figured he was feeling lonely in an empty house full of memories and you always offered your extra room for your father to stay in—but he always refused, saying that the house had been theirs since the beginning and it would have been such a waste to get rid of the memories you have all made within. It held the ghosts of your mother after all; a woman long gone from your life but still very much alive in your heart. You saw her in every corner of the house—from your old bedroom to your sister’s and down to the kitchen. Her shadow had been the strongest presence but you would have been lying if you aid you had no seen the ghost of someone else.

Perhaps it was because of the years that had gone by, and the reappearance of your childhood photos that you go to leaf through with your sister during one of your visits. But you could see him again—the shadow of the small boy with the pink hair and the lavender eyes wandering around the house in the most subtle of ways. You had not thought of him in years and so, seeing your photos from childhood reminded you of days long gone—of days when the both of you had once been at your happiest.

Alas, time had buried him into the corners of your mind where he resides as a relic that you only recall when it is convenient for you. He was something you still wish you had but you knew that time was your enemy: it had already proven to you that even friendships die at its hands.

III.  
You found yourself reminiscing things more often now. You chalked it up to old age, but you were still fairly young in most cases. You were just shy of your thirty third birthday, and you were still strong considering that you were a mixed martial arts champion. Perhaps it was because of the fact that you were an adult—it had been seventeen years since you had graduated from Yumenosaki and while you still kept in touch with Tetora, Keito, and Souma—you had not been able to see them as often as you used to. You were reminiscing over the smallest things now and you realized just how much you missed everyone. After Yumenosaki, all of you had made promises to often hang out until that faded away to occasional phone calls. The most you had ever seen of the people in your past had been Nazuna; he was a successful radio host now and he invited you to lunch once in a while and sometimes you got to see Izumi if time permitted.

You barely knew about what the rest of your peers had been doing after their idol stints. You knew for sure that Eichi have taken over their family business and Keito had become a successful mangaka; you’ve seen Koga as a bassist for a popular band. Sakuma was still somewhere out there doing commercials and Hakaze seemed like he had become a professional surfer. You were not updated on the whereabouts of the rest of them; you have no idea what happened to Tsumugi and you were not sure if Morisawa had become an aviator or if he had pursued a different occupation. Another name that fell into the category of unknown was Shu—you have no idea what happened to your childhood friend after graduation.

You still saw him back then—rarely, but you still met until it all just stopped. Last you remembered he was studying in a college with a course you have forgotten about and he still had that Kagehira kid living with him back then. You have no idea if he was even in Japan or if he had long moved elsewhere—he had always been good at English, you realized, and he probably knew enough French to be able to go overseas.

You figured that maybe it was time for a reunion for all of you. Though, you do not have the resources or time to pull everyone back together. It included picking out a restaurant or somewhere to meet up and that meant contacting everyone—it was more tedious than it looked and he was no Eichi Tenshounin or Wataru Hibiki to magically produce the means to pull everyone together.

Time was cruel.

IV.  
People would say you were a minimalist. You do not live materialistically. You had one suit in your closet, a few pairs of jeans and shirts, and a lot of workout clothes for when you needed to train or compete in another battle. You had more karate uniforms than you can count and enough socks to last you a whole week before you had to wash them. You live in a small room with minimal belongings and most of your furniture consists of the bare basics you needed in order to live. A television is included in the list, however you only used it to watch the news or to fill your apartment with noise.

You have no idea what compelled you to do some impulsive things but you did—you went home over the weekend to pick up a few things to fill in the empty space. You picked up a few of the old cloths you had lying around the house and your old sewing kit. You bought the materials you had needed for your new side project—one you did during your break times. You stitched together a multitude of bears. Each one of them had represented someone you know in some way or form in the shape of a small bear. You made them clothes and they lined up your walls—all sitting in peace as they watched over you with their gentle smiles.

V.  
There were new, upbeat idol groups beginning to come out. You had begun returning to Yumenosaki to watch the younger idols do their lives, and you recalled those days when you, too, had once been an idol belonging to this campus. You were once a part of Akatsuki, the second strongest unit behind Fine, until Trickstar came around and kicked them down. You used to sew clothes for them too, back when there had been those hectic days when lives were planned, and the staff were short handed. Sometimes the workload overwhelmed you and so, Shu had been called in to work with you with the help of the then small Hajime Shino and Tsumugi Aoba. You were sure that Sir Kunugi and Nurse Sagami were long gone—probably retired. Or maybe they were still there to guide these fresh new faces.

Oh, how you missed those days.

VI.  
Time had passed you by.

It hits you like a ton of bricks when Keito Hasumi had met up with you to hand you an invite to his wedding. He said you were to be one of his best men—and that he had schedules an appointment with the tailor his fiancé had chosen for next week. You had accepted it, and it is only then that you realize that you’ve gone so many years without ever really…being with anyone. Then again, when there were shadows in your past that you cannot let go of, having a future with anyone else seemed more tedious than having a future with a dog or maybe a cat. You figured that an akita would do you well. One that was just like Daichi, who was always giddy to see your familiar face.

 _‘You never really let go, huh?’_ Keito had asked you. You looked at him with a tamed expression and you wondered if your face had made it obvious. You shook your head with a sigh. Perhaps it was easy to say you were never really the type of man to let go just too easily—not when you have your own obligations and a strong sense of loyalty—one that was still connected strongly to your friends and Shu.

Shu, most especially, even if he were no longer with you. You had once promised him that you were going to protect him, and that was something you still want to hold onto until today. You knew you liked him back when you were in high school—though you had never really done anything about it. Shu was unattainable then. He had his focus elsewhere to really look at you the same way you looked at him. You never really blamed him, not when he was in the company of people like Nazuna or Mika—hell, even Natsume. Perhaps it was safe to say that he would never spare you a backwards glance when he was constantly moving forward and you were here—stuck in the present where you took things your own pace.

 _‘I guess not.’_ You responded with a sigh.

VII.  
Who would have known that Shi Itsuki now frequented a bakery? It was a happy coincidence, really, when the both of you had crossed paths. He still looked…like your usual Shu. Just as lovely as ever and his eyes were no longer as harsh as they used to be. They looked more tired now and kinder, and you could still see that he carried Mademoiselle—though she was in a tote bag, and not perched on his arm like she usually was. You wondered if that Kagehira kid still lived with him—would Shu even talk to you?

You nodded at him, a gruff _‘Hello’_ escaping your lips as you stood outside the bakery together—string at each other obviously. He looked just as bewildered as you were. You don’t blame him for looking like he had seen a ghost—you were a ghost. Well, not in a literal sense but you were one of the people he probably had never expected to see again. _‘Are you buying croissants again?’_ You asked him in an effort to break the awkward stare down going on between the two of you.

That had done the trick, it seemed, with the way Shu had cleared his throat and gathered his bearings. His expression had fallen back into a more neutral one. It was reminiscent of the glare he used to wear back in high school. _‘I’m surprised that you still remember that.’_ He responded. _‘It’s been so long.’_ He added.

 _‘It’s been seventeen years.’_ You tell him.

_‘Seventeen years is a long time.’_

**Author's Note:**

> I was half tempted to call Kaoru a "Surfer duderino" but yolo.
> 
> I'll have the next part up before the end of January. I split it into two because the 2nd part's pacing is...messy. It's been so long since I've sat down and actually worked on a piece like this.
> 
> Come yell at me at twitter, if you want to! I'm @bokutoes.


End file.
